Saturday, December 18, 2010

Rupert Murdoch's "The Daily," iPad newspaper, which has been rumored for some time, seems set for a January launch, according to a report. The launch date has been shifting around quite a bit, with December the last date rumored, but the Jan. 17th date seems solid, the report said.

“The Daily” is expected to cost 99 cents a week, and will include a new “push” subscription model in iOS, which will allow customers to be re-billed automatically for subscriptions. It will be multimedia heavy, and include, the report said, "some kind of 3-D effect that lots of people are very excited about." It's unclear if Apple CEO Steve Jobs will participate in the launch event.

Both the Kindle and the iPad were seen as possible saviors for the newspaper industry, which is suffering as people gravitate toward using their devices and computers for news. It's unclear how people will react to paying for something they can get else; the bells-and-whistles of 3D and multimedia may be enough of a draw to cross that bridge.